(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the construction of a manually operated trigger sprayer that includes a feature that limits the forward pivoting movement of the trigger. By limiting the forward pivoting movement of the trigger, the novel construction of the trigger sprayer prevents the trigger from engaging against the nozzle assembly attached to the sprayer housing of the trigger sprayer and potentially dislodging the nozzle assembly from its attachment to the sprayer housing.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Handheld and hand pumped liquid dispensers commonly known as trigger sprayers are used to dispense many household products and commercial cleaners. Trigger sprayers have been used to dispense household cleaning or cooking liquids and have been designed to selectively dispense the liquids in a spray, stream, or foaming discharge. The trigger sprayer is typically connected to a plastic bottle that contains the liquid dispensed by the sprayer.
A typical trigger sprayer includes a sprayer housing that is connected to the neck of the bottle by either a thread connection or a bayonet-type connection. The sprayer housing is formed with a pump chamber and a vent chamber, a liquid supply passage that communicates the pump chamber with a liquid inlet opening of the sprayer housing, and a liquid discharge passage that communicates the pump chamber with a liquid outlet opening of the sprayer housing.
A dip tube is connected to the sprayer housing liquid inlet opening to communicate the pump chamber with the liquid contents of the bottle connected to the trigger sprayer. When the sprayer housing of the trigger sprayer is attached to the bottle, the dip tube is inserted through the bottle neck opening and into the liquid contained in the bottle.
A nozzle assembly is connected to the sprayer housing at the liquid outlet opening. Some nozzle assemblies include a nozzle cap that is rotatable relative to the sprayer housing between an “off” position where liquid discharge from the trigger sprayer is prevented, and one or more “on” positions where liquid discharge from the trigger sprayer is permitted. In addition, known nozzle assemblies can affect the liquid discharged by the trigger sprayer to discharge the liquid in a spray pattern, in a stream pattern, or as a foam. The typical nozzle assembly includes a tubular portion that is assembled to the sprayer housing at the liquid outlet opening of the sprayer housing. Some type of snap attachment is also usually provided on the nozzle assembly to hold the nozzle assembly to the sprayer housing. However, if a sufficient force presses against the nozzle assembly and urges the nozzle assembly away from the sprayer housing, the nozzle assembly can be dislodged from its attachment to the sprayer housing.
A pump piston is mounted in the sprayer housing pump chamber for reciprocating movement between charge and discharge positions of the piston relative to the pump chamber. When the pump piston is moved to its charge position, the piston is retracted out of the pump chamber. This creates a vacuum in the pump chamber that draws liquid from the bottle, through the dip tube and into the pump chamber. When the pump piston is moved to its discharge position, the piston is moved into the pump chamber. This compresses the fluid in the pump chamber and pumps the fluid from the pump chamber, through the liquid discharge passage of the sprayer housing and out of the trigger sprayer through the nozzle assembly.
A metal coil spring is positioned in the pump chamber and engages with the pump piston. The coil spring biases the pump piston to the discharge position of the piston.
A vent piston is often provided with the pump piston and is mounted in the vent chamber. The vent piston moves with the pump piston between a vent closed position and a vent opened position in the vent chamber. In the vent opened position, the interior volume of the bottle attached to the trigger sprayer is vented through the vent chamber to the exterior environment of the trigger sprayer. In the vent closed position, the venting path of air through the vent chamber is closed, preventing leakage of liquid in the bottle through the venting flow path should the bottle and trigger sprayer be inverted or positioned on their sides.
A trigger is mounted on the sprayer housing for movement of the trigger relative to the trigger sprayer. The trigger is operatively connected to the pump piston to cause the reciprocating movement of the pump piston in the pump chamber in response to movement of the trigger. A user's hand squeezes the trigger rearwardly toward the sprayer housing to move the trigger and move the pump piston toward discharge positions of the trigger relative to the sprayer housing and of the piston in the pump chamber. The spring in the pump chamber pushes the piston back to the charge position of the piston relative to the pump chamber when the user's squeezing force on the trigger is released.
The metal coil spring is compressed between a rear wall of the pump chamber and the pump piston when the piston is moved to the discharge position. The compressed spring pushes the pump piston back to the charge position when the user's squeezing force on the trigger is released. This movement of the pump piston toward the discharge position also moves the trigger forwardly away from the pump chamber of the sprayer housing and toward a charge position of the trigger relative to the sprayer housing. This also moves the trigger forwardly toward the nozzle assembly attached to the sprayer housing.
Inlet and outlet check valves are assembled into the respective liquid supply passage and liquid discharge passage of the trigger sprayer. The check valves control the flow of liquid from the bottle interior volume through the liquid supply passage and into the pump chamber, and then from the pump chamber and through the liquid discharge passage to the nozzle assembly of the trigger sprayer.
In the typical construction of the trigger sprayer discussed above, the positioning of the nozzle assembly on the sprayer housing requires that the forward movement of the trigger caused by the spring urging the pump piston toward the charge position be stopped before the trigger engages with the nozzle assembly. As the trigger is pivoted forwardly by the force of the spring on the pump piston, should the trigger engage with a portion of the nozzle assembly the force of the spring urging the trigger forward against the nozzle assembly could be sufficient to overcome the snap connection of the nozzle assembly to the sprayer housing. This would result in the engagement of the trigger against the portion of the nozzle assembly dislodging and pushing the nozzle assembly off of the liquid discharge opening of the sprayer housing. What is needed to overcome this problem is a novel construction of a trigger sprayer that prevents the trigger when moved forwardly by the spring from contacting the nozzle assembly.